How Can A Healthy Diet Give You A Healthy Heart?

We live in a world where people are seduced by fat food every day. So many people choose the taste of greasy and fatty sausages or burgers over the nutritional value of healthy fresh salad. It is pure madness, but it shows how addicted people have become to the taste of junk. These people have a total disregard for what it is doing to their hearts.

Alarmingly, more and more medical related deaths have been recorded in the last few decades that are related to heart related problems and cardiac arrests. It is no secret that fast food has played a big part in this.

Studies have shown us that around 80% of heart disease can be prevented through healthy eating. A staggering figure I’m sure you’ll agree. To have a healthy heart, all it takes is the willingness to learn new habits.

While learning new eating habits may seem like a massive step, don’t worry, you don’t have to make 100 drastic changes all at once. You won’t need to turn into a rabbit and only eat vegetables and nothing else for the rest of your life.

If you want a healthy heart, you can start by changing how you cook your favourite non-vegetarian foods. Adding spice to non-veg foods like sage, dry mustard, dill, tarragon, marjoram or oregano can reduce fat saturation and cholesterol. If you like to eat lots of meat, stick to lean red meat and white meat.

Pure vegetarian foods however need to become a large part of your diet. Start gradually eating more and more fresh vegetables. Veggies still contain fats,but not as much.

Foods like cucumber, tomatoes, carrots and leafy vegetables are very healthy and don’t add cholesterol to your body. The Lunch Box Diet is a great healthy diet based on the popular grazing principle that boosts your metabolism through eating small regular meals.

Red and green fruits, low fat milk, olive oil and wholegrain foods are also good vegetarian foods you should have a lot of in your diet if you want a healthy heart.

When you buy foods from the supermarkets, be careful and don’t always trust the labels when they say the product is low cholesterol. Always avoid Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) – this is bad cholesterol, which can cause heart complexities. In contrast, High Density Lipoprotein is good cholesterol – this can help to protect against cardio-vascular risks.

Unhealthy non-food related habits are also important to eradicate. If you smoke or drink lots of caffeine and alcohol, this is something you should cut back on. Exercise is also good for strengthening you cardio-vascular system. So if you’re a bit of a couch potato, now is the time to hit the gym.


All the best for now and speak soon,


Daryl

10 Steps on Improving Your Metabolism

By Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit

Are you sluggish and low on energy? Do you feel like you work and work toward your weight loss goal and never seem to make any dramatic improvement?

You could be suffering from a slow metabolism. Even though you may have a slow metabolism, it does not have to destroy your weight loss efforts. You can dramatically improve your metabolism, and boost your energy levels without taking supplements.

Your metabolism simply refers to the conversion of food to usable energy by the body. It is the biological process, by which energy is extracted from food, and the net result is how fast or slowly the body burns those calories.

A few steps you can take to improve your metabolism naturally are:

1. Drink Water for Improving Your Metabolism - Water is great to drink and you should be drinking a minimum of 8 to 10, glasses daily, of course, more is better. It will help increase your metabolism and flush out sodium, toxins, and fat. Drinking water before meals will fill your stomach so you feel full and prevent overeating. Avoid excess colas, coffee, teas, and sugary juices. Caffeine will dehydrate you, and the sugar will do more damage than good in the long-run.
   
2. Eat Every Three Hours for Improving Your Metabolism - Eat a small balanced meal every three hours, including snacks. Meals and snacks should be balanced, meaning they should contain a complete protein, carbohydrates, as well as natural fat. Failure to eat consistently can lead to a slower metabolism and fat storage. Also, skipping meals slows down your metabolism. To ignite fat loss you need to be consuming the right foods in a balanced manner throughout the day.
   
3. Don't Skip Breakfast for Improving Your Metabolism - Breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it gets your metabolism running in high gear. You wouldn't drive your car to work on an empty tank, and you shouldn't start your day without adequate nourishment. Your first meal sets your metabolism for the day and keeps it going, as long as you eat every three hours. If you get up early and eat a late breakfast, you miss out on several hours of burning calories.
   
4. Don't Fear Fat for Improving Your Metabolism - Fat has developed a bad reputation. Many people think fat makes you fat. This is false. The type of fat and how much fat you eat impacts your body fat composition. Fat is needed by the body. Those who follow a very low-fat diet have a harder time ridding their body of fat. Choose natural healthy fats such as olive oil, avocados, various nuts, flax, and natural peanut butter to receive your necessary fats.
   
5. Omit Trans Fat for Improving Your Metabolism - Trans fat is the bad fat, the cause of weight gain, low energy, depression, cancer, and heart disease. You will never get the body you desire by eating "healthy" fast food, frozen dinners, and other processed choices. If it's man-made, it's not the best choice and will halt fat loss endeavors. Eat the foods Mother Nature has provided to meet your fat loss goals.
   
6. Be Active Daily for Improving Your Metabolism - Stay active at least six days a week. Take the stairs when possible or park further out to get that little bit of extra movement to keep the heart and lungs working optimally. The more movement you get daily, the better you will feel overall.
   
7. Do Cardiovascular Exercise for Improving Your Metabolism - Cardio exercise is necessary for heart and lung health. It also burns calories. Doing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach can tap into fat stores, and keep your body burning calories at a high rate for about an hour after cardio is finished. If you fail to eat adequately daily, first morning cardio on an empty stomach can work against you. Doing morning cardio on very low calorie diet can burn muscle. Another good time to incorporate cardio is in the evening after your last meal. This allows you to burn calories so you are not sleeping on them. You do not have to implement a morning and evening session, choose one or the other or cycle between the two to prevent staleness and boredom.
   
8. HIIT It for Improving Your Metabolism - Blend some High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) into your cardiovascular program from time to time to give your body and metabolism a good shock. The body is programmed for adaptation Therefore, doing the same cardio format day in and day out can become stale really fast. Take one or two days a week and implement some HIIT to give the body an added shock.
   
   HIIT is basically alternating low intensity and moderate to high intensity cardio training. For example, a 20 minute HIIT session would look similar to this: Minute 1 and 2 - Low Intensity (Walking)
   Minute 3 and 4 - High Intensity (Light jogging or running)
   Minute 5 and 6 - Low Intensity
   Minute 7 and 8 - High Intensity
   and so on.
9. Weight Train for Improving Your Metabolism - Resistance training builds muscle, which is metabolically active tissue. The more muscle you acquire, the faster your metabolism will be. Adding more lean muscle tissue to your body will put curves in the right places and allow you to eat more calories a day.
   
10. Listen to Your Body for Improving Your Metabolism - Killing yourself with workouts is just as dangerous as not working out at all. Listen to your body and get proper rest. Don't train if you are ill, still sore from the previous workout, or just simply too tired. Training in such a state can cause more problems than it solves.

If any of the above fail to prove results in 4 to 6 weeks, there could be an underlying problem, such as a food allergy, sluggish thyroid, hormonal imbalance, toxins, parasites, etc. If so, I recommend searching for a natural healer in your area to determine the cause and work from there. For the most part, proper diet, detoxifying, and herbs can correct any ailments.

Fitfully Yours,
Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
aka: MsFit

P.S. Want even MORE weight loss secrets? Stop running around in circles and get the facts that will shed the fat in How to Lose Weight Forever!

Thanks Karen -

Daryl

Cardio Queen Syndrome

By Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
MsFit

By now you are well aware that increased activity burns calories and fat. Exercise is essential to your health and well being, but could you be taking part in too much of a good thing? The old adage, more is not always better, is a good rule to live by.

When it comes to fat loss, you need to be in tune with your body and learn how to listen to it. The idea behind fat loss is to manipulate the body often. As long as you are a step ahead of your body's actions, you will be on top of the fat loss game.

What exactly does that mean? How do you stay a step ahead of your body? Let's explore this concept a little further.

Megan is an e-client of mine. When she began her fat loss endeavor she started cardio six days a week for forty-five minutes and saw great results in a matter of weeks. Her new cardio program was exhilarating. It pumped her up mentally and physically and gave her a newfound energy she hadn't felt in years.


It wasn't long before she extended her forty-five minute ritual to an entire hour for six days a week. With the extended time, she saw even more results. She was delighted.

Eventually, the daily hour cardio chore was wearing on her. Her changes ceased, she was constantly fatigued, and began to hate cardio with an intense passion.

To combat the plateau, she added yet...more cardio on top of fatigue and hatred for exercise. Her grueling hour sessions turned into an hour and fifteen minutes to even longer, an hour and a half.

Nothing is more aggravating than putting all your time and effort into something that takes you no where.

Her fat loss results stalled dead in their tracks and even seemed to reverse. How could something once so productive now be destroying her weight loss efforts?

What may surprise you is that excess cardio can be counterproductive. Any cardio or weight training session lasting over a continuous hour does more harm than good.


Get the Body YOU want in Just Weeks!


Keep Cardio Productive

Cardio is heart healthy and it's a great exercise, but if your goal with cardio is to burn fat, you need to take it with a stride and make it fat burning productive.

I come across many ladies who are quite active. This is all fine and dandy, but when they are active and top that with teaching spinning classes, kick boxing, high energy videos, and general cardio machines, this can be a recipe for disaster, setting your further back than when you started.

Don't go overboard with cardio. Keep it simple, yet effective.



Cardio Intensity

Cardio intensity is a factor to keep fat burning beneficial. This does not mean to do an all out killer cardio routine that leaves you crawling from the gym in a near death status, but to simply shake things up a bit to force the body to respond.

A good way to master cardio is with HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). There are many variations of HIIT and my favorite is the 2/2 ratio.

Example of 2/2 Ratio HIIT

◦Minutes 1-2 - Warm up
◦Minutes 3-4 - Low intensity
◦Minutes 5-6 - High intensity
◦Minutes 7-8 - Low intensity
◦Minutes 9-10 - High Intensity
◦Minutes 11-12 - Low intensity
◦Minutes 13-14 - High intensity
◦Minutes 15-16 - Low intensity
◦Minutes 17-18 - High Intensity
◦Minutes 19-20 - Low intensity
◦Minutes 21-22 - Cool down
With HIIT, your body never falls in a rut because you are constantly changing the intensity to prevent cardio adaptation.



Progressive Cardio

Another successful cardio tactic to use is Progressive Cardio. Your body can adapt to anything in a short amount of time and Progressive Cardio can stop adaptation before it occurs. Progressive Cardio is simply increasing your cardio each week by either the numbers of day or the amount of time to invite change and prevent staleness, provided you don't overdo it.

Example of Progressive Cardio

◦Week 1 - 4 times a week for 20 minutes
◦Week 2 - 4 times a week for 25 minutes
◦Week 3 - 5 times a week for 25 minutes
◦Week 4 - 5 times a week for 30 minutes
You will notice how each week is a step advanced from the previous. This is how you make cardio work in your favor to burn fat.


Advanced Weight-Loss Secrets!


Adopt Weight Training

Have you even seen someone in the gym doing endless hours of cardio and still look soft and unfit? That is because she is lacking lean muscle, which is built from weight training and excessive cardio burns muscle.

Weight training builds lean muscle mass. The more muscle you add to your frame, the less you need to rely on cardio. Muscle is metabolically active and allows you to burn more calories at rest and at play. Of course, this does not mean to kick cardio to the curve, but having a balance of both in your program will keep things interesting and will give much better body transformation results.



Summary to Cardio Queen Syndrome

Once you understand how you can manipulate cardio, you will be able to master the fat burning game. Realize that you don't need three or four different cardio methods stacked on top of one another. Just use cardio wisely and you will have the advantage. Remember, cardio is a fat loss tool, not the determining factor.

Fitfully Yours,
Karen Sessions NSCA-CPT
aka: MsFit